Sunday, March 22, 2009

Two Years Ago Today: Part I

Before I get to Will's birth story (her birthday isn't until Tuesday, but the whole process took a full 48 hours. I know.) I have an update on the sleep situation.

Listen closely, because I'm going to whisper.

Will loves the bed.

That's all I'm going to say for now. But things here at the Lasha household have been much improved over the past couple of days.

And now, a recap of the events of March 22, 2007:

Thursday, March 22 – 8:40 am
I wake up and hear H (my husband) getting ready for work. I realize I have to go to the bathroom – no surprise. As I reach the bathroom I feel a small gush of warm fluid and I know definitively that this is not pee.

I calmly walk over to H, who is ironing a shirt. I tell him I think my water just broke.

He barely looks up: “I have to leave for work.”

I realize he isn’t ready to believe me and go back to bed.

9:45 am
Must have fallen asleep because I hear my phone ringing. I jump up to answer it and feel a bigger gush of fluid. In the bathroom I find what I have been thinking of as the title of a musical: “The Bloody Show.”

9:50 am
I return H’s call and tell him about the latest developments. He says he is coming home. I decide he must believe me.

11:00 am
H arrives home. We wait. The fluid no longer appears to be leaking.

11:30 am
Waiting.

12:30 pm
I start to doubt myself. But not really.

1:00 pm
H starts thinking he shouldn’t have left work. Wonders what to tell his colleagues when he doesn’t become a father in the next 24 hours.

1:30 pm
More gushing of fluid (I told you so!). We test the fluid with nitrazine sticks H has stolen from the clinic. Both are negative.

3:00 pm
We arrive at my regularly scheduled doctor’s appointment. I think about how the annoying medical student will be so happy to be there for my news after following my case for the past month. She does try to be calm, but very quickly gets my doctor when I tell her I’m pretty sure my water has broken. To our surprise, the doctor doesn’t do an exam, but sends us directly to L&D triage at the hospital.

4:00 pm
Knowing we may be at the hospital for a while, I suggest we get something to eat at the Subway across the street. There is some drama as the owner seems to fiddle with my debit card behind the counter. He is offended by our concern, but the week before my debit number (not the card!) was stolen and used across the city. We finish our meal and leave for the hospital. I am surprisingly calm.

5:00 pm
We arrive at triage and are greeted by Jillian, the first of many friendly and competent nurses. She hooks me up to the monitors in the corner “cubicle” and we wait for the family doctor on call.

5:30 pm
H becomes anxious about the lack of fluctuation in the baby’s heartbeat. The nurse checks the monitors. I shift onto my left side and the heart rate starts bouncing around.

6:45 pm
The doctor arrives with a ridiculous 2nd year resident and a nurse, who wheels a giant light into the tiny cubicle to do an exam. I feel like I am on display at the circus. They agree that the fluid is definitely amniotic fluid despite the fact that their nitrazine sticks turn up negative as well. H refrains from telling them about our earlier findings.

The doctor gives us the option of inducing right away or going home and letting things progress on their own. We decide to go home and return at 7:00 am the next morning.

8:00 pm
We arrive home with a pizza. H vacuums all of the rugs in the apartment.

9:00 pm
We go for a long walk around the neighbourhood, stopping at Starbucks for a blended iced-tea lemonade. We try to remember if there is anything we wanted to do before the baby comes.

10:00 pm
Back from our walk, H suggests we clean the apartment. We do.

Midnight
We go to bed.

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